Highlights of 2009-10

Membership

• ALRC President, Emeritus Professor David Weisbrot AM and ALRC Commissioner Professor Les McCrimmon’s terms ended in November 2009.
• Professor Rosalind Croucher, a full time Commissioner for the ALRC, was appointed as the new President in December 2009 for a period of five years.
• Magistrate Anne Goldsbrough was appointed as a part time Commissioner from 14 December 2009 to 31 August 2010.

Significant Events

• On 17 July 2009, the Attorney-General signed Terms of Reference for a joint review with the NSW Law Reform Commission of Family Violence Laws, with a reporting date of 31 July 2010.
• On 19 August 2009 the inaugural meeting of the ALRC’s Indigenous Advisory Committee was held.
• On 10 May 2010, the Attorney-General signed Terms of Reference for a Review of Discovery of Documents in Federal Courts to improve access to justice, with a reporting date of 31 March 2011.
• The ALRC journal, Reform, ceased publication after over 30 years and 94 issues. The final issue was focused on the topic of Housing and looked at homelessness, Aboriginal housing issues, affordability and heritage issues.
•  ALRC Annual Report 2008–09 won Bronze in the CAC Act Online Category by the Institute of Public Administration Australia (IPAA).

Anticipated Developments in 2010–11

New Website

2009–10 has involved planning, design and development of a new website that will better assist the ALRC to utilise online technology to streamline the ALRC’s processes and improve access to information and facilitate community engagement and consultation. The ALRC will launch its new website in August 2010. 

Change to ALRC’s governance arrangements

The Attorney-General has advised that, following an assessment against the recommendations of the Review of the Corporate Governance of Statutory Authorities and Officeholders (Uhrig Review) and the Government’s policy on governance arrangements for agencies, the ALRC should operate under an executive management model, subject to amendment of the Australian Law Reform Commission Act 1996 (Cth). This will involve the ALRC becoming a prescribed agency under the Financial Management and Accountability Act 1997 (FMA Act), a statutory agency under the Public Service Act 1999 and legally part of the Commonwealth.

Publications

Table 1: ALRC Publications 2009–10